---
title: When the chief had finished his share he prepared himself for death,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the chief had finished his share he prepared himself for death, and having called his people together, told them what should be done in case he should die. ’ Who acts: Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Wh
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 23

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When the chief had finished his share he prepared himself for death, and having called his people together, told them what should be done in case he should die. ’

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**Who acts:** Chief · **What happens:** finish, prepare, call, tell, do, die · **To what, where:** chief, people, case · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Chief), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg70959:25:23
# text = When the chief had finished his share he prepared himself for death, and having called his people together, told them what should be done in case he should die. ’
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	share	share	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	prepared	prepare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	9	obj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	aux	_	_
16	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	conj	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
19	together	together	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
22	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	iobj	_	_
23	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	26	obj	_	_
24	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	ccomp	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
33	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **finish** | past · perfect · passive |  | the chief |  |  |  | Chief's share *obj* | tree rules |
| 2 | **prepare** | past | Chief | Chief |  |  |  | for death | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent himself=Product for death=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **call** | gerund · perfect | Chief *not said here* |  | Chief's people |  |  | together *property* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent people=Recipient |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Chief *not said here* |  | people |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **do** | should · passive |  |  |  | case |  | what *obj* | tree rules |
| 6 | **die** | should | Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 7 | **share** |  | Chief |  |  |  |  |  | nom share «possession transitive»: poss=agent |

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One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Project Gutenberg book 70959 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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